Chapter 6:

Sodden Kindling

Edited/Proofread by Demon Ging

Dumbledore sure knew how to dish out the detentions. He had been headmaster at Hogwarts for fifty years and was a teacher or student for a similar amount of time collectively before that.

So yeah, cleaning the owlery with a step ladder and scrub brush was not fun. It was the opposite of fun. Made even more opposite to fun by the occasional student coming by to jeer at him, or else embarrassedly creep around him to send or receive post. Harry studiously dissected a pellet to discover that Tulip had somehow eaten, whole, an adult hawk.

A pretty owl with a pretty name was vicious. Fancy that. Kinda reminded him of a pretty girl with a pretty name with a hybristophilic streak. Everything he did reminded him of the unexpectedly dark "celestial" girl, as Hagrid had good-naturedly called her when Harry explained he had a date with her. He just gritted his teeth and silently reminded himself that Hagrid was from a different era and meant nothing derogatory by the descriptor.

Their long-overdue reunion had more than a few tears, mostly Hagrid's. They mostly discussed the wild beasts of the forest, most of whom Harry had never even heard of, and what made them majestic in Hagrid's eyes. Harry would have taken notes to study these "bugbears" and "thestrals" and other creatures Hagrid mentioned in the library, but he didn't want to make it too obvious that he was planning to write an entire goddamn manual on killing each one in preparation for future tasks. There was no telling what the moronic organizers planned to make him face next.

But their conversation eventually ended, and Harry had to climb up to the owlery for his detention. Now he was scrubbing a particularly plastic-like crust of unknown origin on the edge of Marrow's roost.

Of course, now his thoughts of Sue were no longer the cowardly kind he suffered from before, and more the outright confusion and curiosity kind. She wasn't pretty, not that he'd call her ugly. She was scrawny, like him; dour, like him; and underdeveloped physically, like him. A far cry from the other cele.., er, Asian girl he had been pining over for the last year. Cho was an athlete, and a straight-A student—or was it straight-O student—so she had the looks and the brains and the social skills he lacked. Sue certainly had the brains, but somehow had even poorer social skills than him. Could do with some muscle definition too.

But how could he not start thinking of her as beautiful like he did Cho? The woman who had taken his first kiss. Taken. Conquered through a battle of overwhelming force. Seized like a thief of the smash-and-grab variety in broad daylight. Spirited away into a musty closet on a whim. Hunted down and slayed like a lioness on the hunt.

So yeah, she could have gone about that in a better way. But he hadn't hated it. Even if it was slightly traumatic.

And now he was doing his best to make plans for building a real relationship with the woman who had taken his virginity. Taken. Grasped by the weak roots and yanked from the comfortable soil. Shattered like a pane of glass encountering a brick pitched by David of Samuel fame. Torn down like...

"Heya Harry."

"Heya Cedric," Harry greeted his fellow champion, noticing the former object of his desire at his side. "Oh hey, Cho. Let me guess, Cedric beat me to asking you out?"

"Aren't you already going to the ball with Clauderdale?" Cho asked with a raised eyebrow.

Oh right. Somehow he'd completely forgotten about the intimidating Head Girl. He really should make the time to talk with/antagonize her. His need to fuck with people required feeding.

"Yeah, but only because she asked me and I was too much of a coward to say no," Harry admitted. "You were my actual first choice. But I think you picked the better champion for your dance partner. So what's up? Come here to laugh at the champion in detention?"

Seemed like a real dick move. Especially for the amicable Hufflepuff. So he knew the accusation was off the mark before he made it, but Cedric was a good sport and knew he didn't mean it.

"Not at all. My newly minted girlfriend just had to send a package. What are you on detention for...and where are all the owls?" Cedric said, finally taking note of the silent and empty owlery.

"I'm on detention for commandeering every last owl to send insulting training manuals on how to kill dragons to every last green-peace moron who sent me hate mail," Harry told them.

Cho gave him a look. That look. The look Hermione and McGonagall wore to express their silent judgment more loudly that words ever could. It may also have just been annoying. Annoying is an acceptable adjective to describe the look, yes.

"Well, um, how goes the...you know, the thing?" Cedric tried to ask, eyeing his newly minted girlfriend warily.

Cho, showing off those social graces, rolled her eyes and retreated from the owlery to stand guard at the entrance. Muttering something about "champion talk" the whole trip.

"I haven't had the time to crack open the egg. Is the password still 'pine fresh'?" Harry asked.

Cedric nodded.

"And, you should know, the prefect bathroom is a beautiful place," Cedric hinted. "Can be a romantic rendezvous with any brainy, pretty girls with a whole lot of cleverness to help you figure the clue out."

The suggestive gesture with the eyebrows was a bit much. Harry was at least competent enough to catch his meaning without them, thank you very much. But the idea had merit. Of course, Cedric had a seventh-year Slytherin in mind for the task, but Harry thought a fourth-year Ravenclaw would be a better date.

Sue liked her sleep. She liked it a lot. It kept her mind sharper, allowed her to focus and keep up her energy during studies. Other students who burned the candle at both ends and studied more than her, but still trailed behind her in grades just didn't understand that—didn't understand how she got straight-O's in every class while doing the bare minimum of classwork and homework.

It was almost as if the teachers specifically designed the coursework to be sufficient to teach the students what they needed to pass and by merely paying attention in class they would learn enough to be successful with plenty of time leftover to pursue individual academic interests. But that's just crazy talk!

Despite her high regard for sleep, here she was. Forsaking her beloved bed and for what? A boy.

She'd seen older girls sacrifice their academics for a boy, and could never understand it before. At least in their cases they'd done it for really hot boys who normally wouldn't give them the time of day and were only dating them because they made it easy for them, which they were clearly okay with because they just wanted to sleep with hot guys themselves.

But Potter? He wasn't exactly a heartthrob—his fame notwithstanding. He was scrawny, like her; socially inept, like her; short, like her; and had terrible hair, like her. Was it his eyes? It had to be the eyes. Goddamn if those eyes weren't pretty. If he were to put on some mascara and learn how to bat those eyes he could seduce an entire colony of Veela. So when he approached her in the library with an invitation to join him in an after-hours bath, she could only nod dumbly as he stared at her with those big green orbs of his.

Shiver-worthy, that puppy-dog look was.

But a more likely reason for her acquiescence was her guilt. She felt like she owed him the chance at a proper date and—ick—romance. Especially after she'd taken his virginity. Well, not so much taken as... amputated like a gangrenous leg. Demolished like a derelict build. Smashed like a bull in a maternity ward.

Borderline raped. Yes, that's a good way to describe it.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

And there came his knock on the entrance wall. Okay, Sue. Time to come out of your shell. Be girly. Be seductive. Be confident and open. You can do this!

"Hello?" She called out in a whisper as she cracked the door open.

The staircase beyond the eagle sculpture was dark and empty, but she knew he had to be there.

"I'm here," Came Harry's voice. "Invisibility cloak. Let's get going."

She crept through the doorway and ducked to allow Harry to throw the cloak over her, and he did. Just like that she was reunited with his touch—his arm wrapped around her stooped shoulder as they snuck down Ravenclaw tower. Hunched like apes, they descended staircase after staircase until they reached the fifth floor.

Sue could do nothing but follow Harry's lead, but after a few wrong turns she suspected he himself didn't quite know where they were going.

"Ah. There he is," Harry exclaimed when they came across a statue of Boris the Bewildered before counting the doors past it. "One, two, three aaaand four. Pine fresh."

The door opened at his spoken words and they entered what she could only describe as a cross between a Roman bathhouse and a Victorian bathroom. It was beautiful. Decorated with gleaming marble, glistening silver pipes and a stained glass window depicting a mermaid. Suddenly becoming a prefect was much higher on her priority list.

"Wow. Cedric wasn't kidding. This is amazing!" Potter decided aloud as he circled the room after hurling his invisibility cloak away.

Sue decided to keep the presence of mind Potter lacked and closed the door behind them, before retrieving and folding the cloak. She set it aside as she watched Harry circle the room, as if examining every stone and tile. Jeez, he was worse than the muggleborns who didn't know magic growing up. Why does he pretend to be so wowed by every new thing all the time? You'd thing he was raised by Muggles. Or beasts.

Same thing, really.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Sue broke her silence as Harry turned on the tap to fill the tub.

Harry reached into the satchel and retrieved the large golden egg he had taken from the Horntail mother whose children he'd orphaned.

"The egg contains a clue, and Cedric recommended this bathroom to figure it out," He said. "And seeing as I'm short on brains, I thought bringing you along would make things smoother."

So much for a romantic or erotic rendezvous. And here she was thinking he was trying to make something substantial out of their...relationship? Or maybe build one in the first place.

"And what made you think I would want you to spoil the second task for me? I quite enjoyed the surprise from the first," She countered.

"True," Harry nodded. "But I recall you also quite enjoyed watching me prepare and study and plan how I did it. Almost as if you enjoyed wondering what in the world I could possibly be doing. And I know you appreciated the payoff. Aren't you curious to find out what impossible opponent I'll be figuring out how to annihilate with ease? I promise not to spoil my plan."

Perhaps it was just the rapidly filling hot tub, but the room suddenly felt much hotter and more humid. If only he talked like that all the time.

"But apparently we have to soak with it," Harry explained, carelessly tossing the egg into the water and retrieving a pair of swimming trunks from his bag.

Rolling her eyes at his prudeness, she did away with her jumper, undershirt and the bra she wore that was about as useless to her as a jockstrap on a woman. Potter, busy playing with the different faucets to find out all the different perfumes the bath contained, didn't notice what she was doing until she was done with her shoes and nearly free of her second sock.

He actually blushed and sputtered when he got a sight of her in nothing but a skirt. Was he serious? Surely it was an act.

"Please, Harry," She said with another roll of her eyes. "I already fucked you. Why would we bother to cover up with swimsuits? I've seen everything."

He muttered something that sounded a lot like "That's a good way to describe it" but she chose to ignore his comment as she tossed away the last remaining pieces of clothing and watched him reluctantly do the same as she lowered herself to the side of the pooling water to soak her feet in the warm water. Harry, still pretending to be bashful with that obviously fake blush, lowered himself into the bath all the way up to his chest, successfully hiding his desire for her beneath the bubbles. Now why in the world would he go and do that?

She squinted her eyes in anger at him for being so far away and hiding himself from her. And so, crossing her legs and leaning forward towards him, she bade him to come hither with the motion of one finger. He actually obeyed, wading over to her using one hand to churn water and holding the other up like a butler's tray. She didn't know if he was trying to be seductive by it, but it was. To her at least.

When he finally reached her, he used his free hand to grasp her calf near the knee, his thumb to caress the smooth, perfect skin she took so much pride in.

"So, you ready to pop this thing open?" He asked.

She couldn't decide if she was more disappointed that he was talking about the egg in his hand, or how awfully unsexy it would have been if he had been referring to her still cross legs. They would remain that way until he rose out of the water to give her an eyeful, or until the bubbles thinned out enough that she would be happy to join him in the water. Whichever comes first.

"Go ahead," She said dismissively.

She regretted giving permission the opened he removed the cap to the golden egg and an atrocious screeching sound filled the room, echoing over and over until it became high-pitched white noise. Even after he closed it again the sound continued to ring in the room like a gong, and for a time her nearly bleeding ears reproduced the unenjoyable experience.

"So that's the clue," Harry said dejectedly. "Don't see why Cedric thought bringing it here would make a difference."

Sue uncurled herself from the borderline-fetal position and back to her poised, cross-legged seat at the side of the pool before answering.

"It's Mermish," She said matter-of-factly. "The language of mermaids. Incomprehensible above water."

Harry blinked dumbly—see cutely—at her before unceremoniously dropping the egg into the water and, reaching blindly through the bubbles, unclasped it. The beautiful hum of a woman's voice singing, muffled by the water, filled the bathroom and suddenly her ears didn't hurt so much anymore.

The pleased look on his face, raised eyebrows, and genuine smile, made the entire trip worth it. And when he reached out a hand to she took it and allowed him to pull her into the water.

She marveled at the way her body contoured against him and shivered at the feeling of his desire pressing against her. But, reminding herself that erection did not equate to consent, as he didn't act on that desire but dunked his head below the surface, she followed him down.

"So mermaids are going to take something into the black lake, and I'll have an hour to get it back?" Harry summarized. "I'm guessing they're probably gonna dump some dangerous aquatic creatures into the lake to make the task more difficult."

Seemed like reasonable assumptions to her, yes.

"Which will make it all the more entertaining for you I'm sure," He chuckled.

She shrugged cutely before climbing out of the bath back to hers eat at the edge, but this time with her legs still in the water all the way to her thighs, making certain to give Harry a good eyeful of everything north of that.

"I think it'll be more entertaining to watch you try and figure out a way to hold your breath for an hour. Or else blow up the entire lake and everything in it," She teased with what she hoped passed as a smirk.

He laughed, in that loud unashamed way he sometimes did. She wished he would do it more often.

"Well, now seems like a good enough time to practice holding my breath as any," He said as he tossed the now closed egg aside.

Then he looked at her—really looked at her. His eyes raking over her ivory skin down to the one patch of hair on her entire body. Moving closer he reached out and grasped her by the waist to lower her back into the water up to her chest. When he disappeared beneath the foam she leaned back to lay her head and shoulders on the tile floor.

She then made a sound she'd never made before in her life. Halfway between a squeal of delight and a giggle, and in a panic she clasped both hands over her mouth to prevent herself from emitting another one, which she almost did. The next few moments were simultaneously the most erotic and silliest of her short life as she thrashed her legs and giggled uncontrollably as Harry kept putting his annoyance-induction-hole to a significantly better use than he usually did. What he lacked in skill and experience, he made up for in playfulness and effort, coming up for air to kiss her elsewhere and give her a break from her laughing fits. Those were the silly parts: the erotic parts were his dark, tanned hands gliding over her pale, flawless thighs, stomach, and chest.

The entire experience had her conflicted from being mesmerized by the sight of him at work and turning scarlet red from humiliation at the insecurities she felt about her body. But he didn't show any disgust or discomfort from having his face pressed against the grossest part of her body and when he finally gave up it seemed more out of surrender since it was clear he wasn't getting the result he was going for.

"Did it...not work?"

"I don't know!" She squealed through the muffled laughter.

"You don't know?" He asked incredulously.

"I don't even know how to do what you were trying to do. I don't...touch myself," She confessed. "The only time I've ever done anything like this was, well, you know."

That seemed to make him a bit less dejected at his failure, which was cute. She got out of the pool completely and layed down on the floor, propping up on her elbows as she looked at him.

"Well. Seeing as that was a disaster, I'm guessing you don't want to try and do that...other stuff again?"

She shook her head. The night had already been exhausting, and she had a headache (no, honestly) from the egg's screeching. She craved her bed above all else and just wanted Harry to take her back to her dorm.

"What, do I need to kill some other dangerous creature to get you in the mood or something."

She blushed, actually blushed, but then thought about it. He had meant it as a joke, buuut.

"Maybe some other night, but I think that might do it," She told him honestly.

The look he gave her made her wonder if he didn't believe her.

"Well, I mean, there's no shortage of them in the forbidden forest if you want to sneak out there next time. We could just find the centaurs and ask them if there's anything out there causing them trouble?" He suggested. "I'm friends with one called Firenze."

She nodded.

"Go on and send him a message," She instructed.

"Errr, what?" He said dumbly. "Is there a telephone spell or something?"

She gave him a look. That look. The same look her mother reserved for when she asked something utterly ridiculously or tedious to answer.

"Do you not know the patronus charm?" She prodded

"Yeees?"He answered slowly as if it were a non sequitur.

"Send a message with the patronus."

"You can send messages with the patronus?!"

By god. Why had she fallen in lust with such a stupid, if pretty, boy?

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